Initiatives

Nursing

Registered nurses (RN) assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement nursing care plans, and maintain medical records in addition to administering nursing care to ill, injured, convalescent, or disabled patients.[1] Hospitals report a high demand for nurses with clinical experience, particularly for specific hospital units, while many nursing graduates with degrees but little experience are having difficulty finding their first nursing job. There is an average of 2,170 openings for registered nurses in New York City each year, the third greatest volume from a list of dozens of healthcare occupations selected by the New York State Department of Labor for analysis.[2] At the same time, a recent study found that in many programs up to 12% of newly licensed Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) graduates were not employed as registered nurses within 18 months of graduation.[3]

[1]Source: United States Department of Labor, 2010 Standard Occupation Classification

[2]Source: New York State Department of Labor, Jobs in Demand/Projects, Long-term Occupation Projections 2010-2020

[3]Source: City University of New York, Office of the University Dean for Health and Human Services and the John F Kennedy Institute for Worker Education, “Emerging Career Pathways in the New York City Healthcare Workforce: Changes in the Nursing Career Ladder” June 2013

“It’s so exciting to go in every day. You come across what you read in the book and now you’re doing it. Things that seemed impossible, that you were afraid of, are now second nature.”

– Dorcine Marshall, RN Transition to Practice participant

RN Transition to Practice (TTP) Certificate Program

This initiative, a collaboration between Lehman College’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA), and the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS), provides unemployed and underemployed licensed registered nurses an opportunity to participate in a certificate program in which they gain six months of hands-on clinical training supported by a stipend. Nurses receive six hours a week of classroom instruction at Lehman and 24 hours a week of clinical training at a participating hospital under the guidance of a nurse preceptor. The classroom instruction focuses on critical thinking, communication, leadership, research skills, and other competencies identified by employers as critical yet often lacking in new graduates, while the additional clinical experience enhances students’ competencies and confidence in a hospital setting. Participating hospitals select the participants and hope to hire graduates as full-time registered nurses upon completion. This initiative is funded by SBS and NYACH.

Timeline

1st Cohort June-December, 2014

2nd Cohort June-December, 2015

3rd Cohort January-July 2016

Featured Student

Mulu Amlesom

Mulu, of Eritrean descent, came to the United States at the age of 13 after living as a refugee in Sudan for five years. She currently lives in the Bronx. She completed her nursing studies in New York and passed the NCLEX in November of 2013. For seven months, from November 2013 until beginning the Transition to Practice (TTP) program in June 2014, she looked unsuccessfully for work as a nurse. In November of 2014, she was hired as a full-time registered nurse by her TTP host hospital, Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan.

Q: Why did you choose a career in nursing?

A: My godmother was a nurse, and since I was young I always wanted to do nursing.

Q: What factors impacted your decision to participate in the TTP initiative?

A: I graduated in September, and I was still looking for work when I heard about the initiative. I felt like I had the qualifications, and I tried my best to make myself marketable. But it didn’t work….I needed contacts. TTP was an opportunity to get some hands-on experience, to ease my way into practice.

Q: How was your experience with the program?

A: It was really great. I got lucky. I had a preceptor who was open and willing to teach. She was right there, but she let me do everything so I got good hands-on experience.

Q: Can you give us an example of something you learned that went beyond what you had learned as a nursing student?

A: Actual practice is completely different from school. What I feel nursing school lacks is real experience – the TTP initiative helped us fill in the gaps from nursing school.

Q: How does it feel to be working at Beth Israel?

A: It feels great. My first paycheck is tomorrow. It feels really good to be financially contributing to my family. And I love the people. We are like a family; we help each other out.

Q: Do you have any plans for the future?

A: I would like to eventually get my Masters and be a Nurse Practitioner. I am moving in that direction.

NCLEX-RN Exam for Foreign-Trained Nurses Program

In collaboration with the NYC Welcome Back Center at LaGuardia Community College, this program provides a National Council Licence Examination (NCLEX-RN exam) preparation course for internationally trained nurses. The course focuses on both the English-language skills and nursing skills needed to pass the NCLEX-RN exam and become a registered nurse in New York State. This initiative is funded by SBS and NYACH.

For more information contact Neesha Rose at nrose@sbs.nyc.gov.

Featured Student

Giana Saloman

Giana Saloman was born in Haiti. When she was 19, her older sister, a nurse, convinced her to go to school to pursue nursing. She worked as a Registered Nurse in Haiti for 7 years until 2010, when the earthquake caused her family to move to the United States to find safety, stability and opportunity for her then 3-year-old daughter. After years of unemployment and underemployment in the United States, Giana joined the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) for Foreign Trained Nurses program at the LaGuardia Community College Welcome Back Center and funded by the NYC Department of Small Business Services. This program integrates English as a second language instruction with NCLEX-RN exam preparation using the Integrated Basic Education Skills Training (I-BEST) model. Giana graduated from the program, passed her license exam, and now works as a School Nurse at a private school in Brooklyn.

Q: Why did you become a nurse?

A: When I was 16 years old, my mom had died. My older sister was a nurse and told me to go to school to be a nurse. In my country, you don’t need to pay for school. So I went. It was not difficult but I didn’t like watching people suffer; it took me two or three years to get used to it.

Q: What was it like moving to the United States?

A: When I moved to the United States it was very difficult because we moved into my brother’s house in New York; myself, my husband, and my daughter were sleeping in one room on the floor. We came on a visa and we couldn’t work because we needed work permits. So we waited 18 months without work and then in 2011, we got temporary protection status from the government and I just need to pay to renew it every year. When we got the permits in 2011, I went to school to get my CNA certification, Phlebotomy, and EKG but I couldn’t find work so for 8 months I worked as a Home Health Aide.

Q: Why did you decide to join this program?

A: In 2013, my sister who was with me in New York talked to me about the LaGuardia program. She heard about the program from a friend from LaGuardia who was a LPN. She convinced me to apply for the program- she said maybe we could study together. When we went to LaGuardia they said we could come in August 2013 and I don’t know, it was like God heard our prayers because it was really great.

Q: How was your experience in the program?

A: It was great because I think the teachers they know what they are doing. They really know. The thing that I liked the most is that there I can learn English. At this school, sometimes the teacher was speaking and I did not understand but in class we have Magda Kieliszek, our ESL teacher, and anytime we didn’t understand what the teacher was saying, she would explain everything. We weren’t too afraid to speak because all of us were immigrants so we were all the same. Tania Ramirez, the other teacher, gave us hope every time we were down because it was hard to understand. She would say ‘I know you can do it!’ It was very intensive but in my country it is like with motivation and determination- we can climb any mountain!

Q: What are you doing now?

A: I passed my NCLEX in July and Workforce1 called me on July 23rd, less than two weeks after, and they sent me on an interview and ProMed Agency was looking for a school nurse. I work in a private school full time. It is very calm and quiet and is good for me now because I am going to school to get my BSN at Medgar Evers College. I just started in September. My sister who did the program with me is working as an ER nurse in Jamaica Hospital.

Q: What impact did the program have on your life?

A: It changed everything. I was working as a Home Health Aide for 8 months, it was the worst months of my life, I left it and I was a CNA and was working for only $10/hour, now I am getting $30/hour.

The program improved my English skills and now at school everything is about research and about speaking English. Its okay- I got a good grade. I talked to my teacher and told her English is my third language and I know it is not good but I am not afraid to speak because Magda and Tania told me its okay- speak up because like everyone in the US is an immigrant so speak up! I told my friends that they could come to LaGuardia and they would help them!

Q: How does it feel to be employed as a nurse in the United States?

A: It is more than to be proud. It’s like your life is not the same anymore. I remember I spoke to Magda when I knew I passed my NCLEX and I didn’t care if I got a job or not, I was just so proud to be a nurse, only that. I think everyone, my brother, my sister, everyone is proud of me.

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: I want to go on and get my masters in nursing after my BSN. I would like to work in the education field because I think I will like it. As a nurse everything changed- its not the same. You are proud of yourself. It’s something more, I think it’s why I wanted to continue my education. In the US education is respected and even with my accent my education is respected.